State of the Nation: Wales must cling to hope after winless Six Nations

Lawrence Nolan
Wales player look on after Six Nations loss to Italy.

2WT8JGY Wales players during the Guinness Six Nations match at the Principality Stadium, Cardiff. Picture date: Saturday March 16, 2024.

With another fascinating Six Nations now done and dusted, we update you on the state of the participating nations, kicking off with last placed Wales.

In the film ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, Tim Robbins’ character has this to say on the subject of hope, the night before he tunnels to freedom: “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”

After the last day defeat to Italy, Welsh fans need to cling on to this little snippet of Hollywood wisdom, for having raised hopes so high through the course of the tournament, that loss was the first time that this young team took a significant step back in its development.

Warren Gatland’s offer of his resignation felt a peculiar plot twist in the aftermath of it all; it’s not difficult to imagine him using the offer and the response to it as a gauge of how the levels of hope within the WRU are hanging rather than as a serious suggestion, but it was still a solemn end to a difficult tournament for the Welsh.

Tournament summary

On the face of it, a start at home to Scotland for one of the most inexperienced teams Wales has ever fielded was not the toughest ask, but by the time Duhan van der Merwe had rumbled in for a score to make it 27-0 to the visitors early in the second half, those hope levels would have been at rock bottom.

But the comeback to 27-26 that followed, and the performance in running England to the wire in a tight 16-14 defeat at Twickenham, suggested that the youngsters were beginning to bloom. The dogged defence in a 31-7 defeat in Dublin also hinted at the squad developing a harder edge.

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Perhaps the standout hour for the team was at home to France on the fourth weekend, as the Welsh traded try after try with the visitors in a thrilling opening to the game. But they ran out of steam in the final quarter to lose 45-24 and unfortunately seemed never to get it back. The last day defeat to Italy saw a team that had put together some fine rugby endure one of those days where the passes didn’t stick, the tackles didn’t sit and the referee calls did not go their way.

The stress of it all told, not only in Gatland’s resignation offer but also in the ugly exchange between Neil Jenkins and Matthieu Raynal during the match, the irritation between Sam Costelow and Cam Winnett after both had gone for the same high ball, the drop of the exiting George North to his haunches, head down in despair, after another error. A Six Nations that had promised much for the Welsh in terms of development took an immensely frustrating step back on the final day.

Standout players

Of the newbies thrust into the deep end, one or two did swim. Cam Winnett has the makings of a fine Test full-back. The back-row is in terrific shape, with Tommy Reffell and Aaron Wainwright shining all tournament and Alex Mann emerging. Rio Dyer is showing signs of building on the promise he has long since been known for. Joe Roberts and Mason Grady continue to develop as well.

It’s hard to look past Reffell as the team’s man of the tournament however, while Dafydd Jenkins‘ cool leadership throughout the testing times was very commendable.

Stat leaders

Winnett and Dyer were in the tournament’s top six players for metres gained, with the former’s 285.2 metres eclipsing even the total of Van der Merwe. Winnett was fourth overall in that stat, and fourth overall in metres carried too with 406.5, having made the second-highest number of carries with 58 (behind Ben Earl’s 73). Tomos Williams threw 303 passes, behind only Jamison Gibson-Park overall, and kicked 50 times, behind only Finn Russell. Dyer was joint-second in terms of line breaks with seven, only Damian Penaud was ahead of him.

Wales player ratings: Tomos Williams best of a bad bunch in humiliating defeat to Italy

Jenkins and Reffell’s work-rates shone through in the ugly stats, second and third overall tacklers in the tournament with 79 and 78 respectively. The pair were the top two in attacking ruck arrivals as well, on 144 and 135 respectively, while Reffell topped the tournament stats of defensive ruck arrivals at 59. Reffell used eight of those to steal balls, double anyone else in the tournament. The irrepressible Reffell was also second-highest in cleanouts in the tournament, with 30, together with team-mate Gareth Thomas.

Success story

The development of some of the new players is absolutely the thing to cling on to for Welsh observers. The back-row looks good, the scrum-halves look good. Winnett is a real prospect on an upward development curve. Results have not been as desired, but there were also some moments of scintillating rugby to remember and build on. Foundations have been laid, despite the misery of the final weekend. And in Jenkins, Wales has a leader on the pitch with the potential to be a fine long-term successor to Alun Wyn Jones.

Main regret

In the immediate aftermath, many would say that not sending North off with a win is high on this list. But once North has exited to the good life in Provence, the entire set-up will generally look back ruefully on a final day step backwards after a tournament that had shown several steps forward. There will also be letting England off the hook at Twickenham, an unnecessary penalty giving the English the win in a game the Welsh could easily have won.

Results

Wales v Scotland (lost 27-26)
England v Wales (lost 16-14)
Ireland v Wales (lost 31-7)
Wales v France (lost 45-24)
Wales v Italy (lost 24-21)

READ MORE: Six Nations Team of the Tournament: Ireland and Italy lead the way as one country misses out

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